Not many people answer their phones with a hacked-off sounding “WHAT?” Not many people are Lisa Anderson. “Ooops, I’m so sorry!” she laughs. “I thought you were a friend of mine, and I was playing a joke on him.” She’s clearly enjoying the fact that the joke’s on her. But when told that dispatcher Beth Ferguson said she’d be an interesting subject for a Baggett Family profile, she responds, flat-out, “Oh No.” Thirty-five minutes later, it’s clear she’s wrong again.

“It’s Lisa Calling. Are You Here?”
“

When I’m not happy about something, the folks at Baggett are going to hear about it. And right now, the main thing I’m not happy about is — ” More on that in a minute. But first, a little background on Lisa and her husband Ken. They joined Baggett four years ago, after ranking among Swift’s Top Five teams, in total miles, for seven years — three times ranking #1. Remember, that’s a company with over 16,000 trucks.

Are you kidding?

“Ken and I used to average 6000 to 7000 miles a week. That’s mainly why we joined Baggett. We got tired of running so many miles. The other thing was, when you’ve got a problem with a company as big as Swift, you can’t just walk into the President’s office and complain.” She pauses, thinking to herself. “Well actually, I could. And did.” Surprised?

Welcome to a new way of life.

“We carried our Baggett application in the truck for a year before we finally decided to switch. Everyone at orientation, they were just the nicest people. I fell in love with Gaby. James was great. Everybody was. That’s when Ed told us what our biggest problem was going to be, driving with Baggett.”

The problem? Slowing down. A lot. From, say, six or seven thousand miles a week to 2500 or 3000. Which goes back to the main thing Lisa’s not happy about right now: “Not enough trailers. We’re used to going all the time. And when we can’t drop-and-hook a load, and get right back on the road, it makes you mad. David knows about it. I’ve told him. They’re working on it.”

So there’s a problem with earnings?

As a matter of fact, there is. “We’re making a lot more money running fewer miles than we did with Swift.” And how is that a problem? “We’re having to spend more money to keep our taxes down. This year, we bought a 2015 Peterbilt 389. And Ken’s been buying a lot of junk for the truck.” Junk? “Yeah, things like our new GPS. Which is really great. It lets me program and save directions to every base we go to.”

And what better tool for the pace they like to keep? “They’re really good runners,” says Gabby. Who, by the way, is a card-carrying member of Lisa’s Mutual Admiration Club. And a big fan of Ken’s as well. “He’s so nice. And so soft-spoken.” Which, all things considered, might just be what makes him and Lisa such a perfect team!